Wednesday, November 21, 2001

No holiday blues
Those who remain in Fort Worth try to make best of situation
By John-Mark Day
Staff Reporter

When the pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving, they were far from home. TCU senior James Mick can sympathize. Mick, a resident assistant, will be spending Thanksgiving on duty in the Tom Brown-Pete Wright Residential Community.

“I could be upset about it, but it’s my job,” Mick said.

Mick is one of several TCU students who remain on campus over Thanksgiving break this weekend. Some, like Mick, will stay behind because of jobs or Friday’s football game against Louisville. Others live too far away to travel for the holiday.

Deven Murphy, a junior radio-TV-film major, lives in the Virgin Islands and said because it is too expensive for her to fly home, she is taking charge of Thanksgiving dinner.

“I’m making honey-baked ham, turkey, two pumpkin pies, one apple pie, rolls and mashed potatoes,” Murphy said. “And peas. I need something green, I guess.”

Murphy, who lives off-campus, said she will be cooking for her sister, her roommate and her grandfather, who lives in Fort Worth. After spending two Thanksgivings at the homes of friends, Murphy said she is in charge of this year’s meal.

“I enjoy cooking,” she said. “I’ve wanted to (cook Thanksgiving dinner) since last year.”

Murphy said she spent around $80 on the meal, and has been planning for two weeks.

The rest of the weekend will be spent relaxing and watching football, Murphy said.

With the Main closed, students left on campus will not have to look far for a meal.

International Student Association will be sponsoring a Thanksgiving/Ramadan dinner Wednesday night in the lobby of Foster Hall.

For ISA president Raquel Torres, Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate with her on-campus family.

“Even though Thanksgiving is an American holiday, it is also a time where people go and spend time with their families,” Torres said. “This is not a possibility for many international students, so we get together and create our own extended family on campus.”

Torres said the Thanksgiving dinner has been a tradition for ISA, and it has grown into a large event.

“(The dinner) used to be smaller and informal, usually made in someone’s house with potluck dishes,” she said. “But as more international students came on campus and stayed for the holidays the event got bigger.”

Torres said ISA combined Thanksgiving with Ramadan this year because they both fell around the same time. Traditional Thanksgiving food such as turkey, macaroni and cheese and pumpkin pie will be catered by Boston Market and ISA plans to include Indian food such as chicken tika, chicken bryani and pita breads from Maharaja Restaurant, Torres said.

While the event is aimed primarily at international students, Torres said everyone is welcome.

“All students who are staying and want some family feeling can come,” she said.

Any student interested in attending should e-mail ISA at (isa_tcu@yahoo.com), Torres said.

For Mick, Thanksgiving will be spent on campus and on-call. From Wednesday night until Sunday, Mick said he will be required to wear a pager and stay on campus.

“It’s kind of a mixed blessing,” Mick said. “I can finish projects and papers.”

Mick, who is from Kansas, said he has family close to TCU who will be bringing food to campus, but that he will still miss out on what makes Thanksgiving special for him.

“It’s my favorite holiday. I love the weather, I love the season,” he said. “Making sacrifices is just part of being an RA.”

John-Mark Day
j.m.day2@student.tcu.edu